Guest Post : Mel's Meringue Bouquet Vanilla Cupcakes

Mel (@skewiff on twitter) is an avid baker, she has attended many of our cakeups and came on board immediately when we mentioned The Forage event. 

We must of hit jackpot when she said yes, because look at what she rocked up with on the day!

Mel created these gorgeous looking meringue bouquet vanilla cupcakes which pretty much disappeared the moment after they were put out on our stall!

She had been teasing us with photos of these tiny meringue components in the days leading up to The Forage and when we saw the final result we were just in awe. She put so much time and effort into making these treats we really do appreciate her kindness and generosity. 

And as an added bonus, Mel has been so kind to share with all of us the recipe for her cupcakes - they are most certainly a show stopper!

When Rachi and Giulia sent an email out in late June calling for bakers for the stall they secured at The Forage I replied YES! before I even finished reading.

I love a chance to bake with purpose.

I love baking that gets eaten by other than me.

The Forage and its association with Hustle and Scout meant I could have another go at some meringue bouquet vanilla cupcakes because they’re a bit decoratively spesh ;)

The design is from a Martha Stewart book that I looked at years ago. All the components, except the cupcake, were made ahead of time so that on the day I could focus on decorating. 

Meringue bouquet components

I made these about 5 days before because I knew they’d be fiddly in the making. It’s a basic meringue recipe. 

4 egg whites

220g caster sugar

Pinch of Cream of Tartar (I think if I used more than a pinch they may have held their piped shape better)

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar a spoonful at a time – although not too slowly so it’s smooth, not fluffy. Beat it until it has thick, glossy, stiff peaks and the sugar’s dissolved. 

Then the fun part, get every piping tip you have, attach couplers to two bags, fill the bags, and then pipe! I did about 12 shapes for each cupcake; leaves, flowers, ‘O’s’, squiggles, splotches – anything that you can envision putting together to form something vaguely floral on top of the cupcake. I found the leaf, open star and drop flower tips were best.

Bake at 90°C for one and a half hours. Leave them to dry out in the oven for three or four hours. Then store them in an airtight container until you need them.

I’d probably turn the oven temperature a touch lower and bake for longer so they dry out and are completely white. I had a bit of baked tinge on some. 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I made this the day before. I’ve discovered it can be weather temperamental – won’t work if it’s too hot; so I thought I’d experiment in cold weather :)

The recipe I use has been pulled together from much experimentation over the years. I love meringue buttercream because it’s not as sweet as butter icing, it’s got a super light texture, and it’s quite magical to make when it goes right (which is nine times out of ten for me).

4 egg whites

8 oz sugar

16 oz softened butter – cut into large squares

Prepare a bowl of ice water to cool after stage 2

Fill a pot with an inch of water and put your egg whites and sugar in a bowl over it. I use my stand mixer bowl because after this stage you get electric. Whisk over the pot of water until all the sugar is melted – rub it between your fingers to feel this. Usually take only a few mins.

Transfer the melted whites and eggs to a cool bath and whisk just to cool. You don’t want to get it cold, just to take some of the hot out of it for whisking in your stand mixer.

When it’s no longer hot on the base of the bowl (touch to feel this) put the bowl in your stand mixer with whisk attachments (I always use my beaters with no problems).

Whisk until it’s at glossy peak stage. Not quite stiff peaks, but leaves a ribbony trail when the mixture runs off the beaters. Sometimes this may take a while, like 10 mins or more depending on your mix and mixer (Sometimes see this recipe is called ‘7-Minute Frosting’ - I never trust a dessert recipe with that much preciseness.)

Add the butter to the mixing meringue mixture one chunk at a time. It should be soft but not melted. Wait for each piece to be incorporated before you add the next one. Keep mixing when all the butter is added.

This is the part of every SMB recipe that says “and now just trust that it will turn”. A kind of magic happens once most of the butter is added. As it beats it goes from sloppy soup to fluffy, smooth, creamy, light! You just keep on beating until it happens. When it does – you got your buttercream!

If you have a disaster – like curdling or soup I like this site for help. 

I covered the buttercream with glad wrap and left it out at room temp until I used it the next day.

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

For the most part I think of cake as the vehicle for decoration, and I usually go with chocolate. Which is why I requested vanilla cupcakes – I wanted to try something different for me. I found this recipe at Natasha’s Kitchen and only had a few changes to the American recipe. It produced a really delicious light -inside, and gently crisp-outside. Definitely going to bake these again.

I made these on the day (and I’ve never used this recipe before) Everything went perfectly, until they didn’t bake in the time frame – I just added 2 mins at a time until they were done perfectly. So the recipe says 12-14 mins, and I ended up baking for 19 mins. 

Makes 15 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup canola oil (vegetable or extra light olive oil also work)

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 175°C (although I did 180°C) and line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Set flour mix aside.

In the bowl beat 2 eggs with an electric whisk on medium speed (15-20 seconds).

Add 3/4 cup sugar and continue to beat on medium speed (30 seconds).

Add vanilla and oil and beat on medium speed (1 minute).

Reduce mixer speed to medium/low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mix and the rest of the milk. Beat until just combined and smooth, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. The batter should be thin.

Pour batter into a lined muffin pan. Fill to about 1/2 full.

Bake for 12 -14 minutes.

Let them cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then remove and decorate.

Putting it all together

I let the cupcakes cool. 

I gave the buttercream a mix in the stand mixer to soften it up a little for piping. I used a large round tip to pipe a kind-of upside-down cone of icing. Basically a base of icing to decorate with the meringue pieces. 

I had left all the meringue pieces on their baking trays (covered in layer upon layer upon layer of glad wrap) so I could see all the pieces I had. And I just started stacking the decorations all over the cupcakes, making sure to cover every buttercream surface with a decoration. 

I did one cupcake with buttercream and decorations at-a-time. I got better at the decoration by the end, and the best ones had a good balance of differently sized bits and bits sticking out. 

And they were pretty delicious too.

It was great fun. Thanks again Canberra Cake Club gang!!!! And for the beautiful display stand on the day from Sweet Tea!

Guest Post: Amy's Limoncello Cupcakes

Our guest poster of the week is Amy, a now regular at our cakeups! She always brings much colour to, as proved by these colourful Limoncello cupcakes which she brought along to our last cakeup. A baker extraordinaire - we asked her to tell us about her experience of Cake Club and of course to share with all of you lovely readers - the recipe for her cocktailish delights which were enjoyed by all!

A huge thank you to the divine ladies of the Canberra Cake Club for inviting me to guest post and share this recipe!

I have always loved to bake, and some of my very happiest memories are connected to being in the kitchen. I spent a lot of my childhood with my great-grandmother, and it was she who instilled my love of cooking. Many afternoons were spent in her company, wrapped in an oversized apron, baking scones, icing patty cakes, and learning the secrets of her famous banana cake.

Nan had a seemingly endless stream of visitors dropping in to her flat for a cup of tea and chat, and they never went hungry! From her I learned the generosity and joy of feeding your friends and family something homemade and delicious. It’s a tradition I continue with my friends now.

I first learned about the Canberra Cake club through the blog posts of committee members Rachi and Giulia. After seeing the pictures of the January cakeup and reading the premise of cake club I knew this was the club for me!

I couldn’t think of a better opportunity to meet some of my favorite Canberra food bloggers, make some new friends and talk all things baking, cake, and food with other passionate Canberrans.

I gleefully attended the February Cakeup hosted by the delightful ladies of the Essential Ingredient. What a veritable feast of cake! The table was laden with amazing creations and the room was buzzing with chatter about all the “Secret Ingredients”. I spent most of the afternoon in a glorious sugar haze, munching my way through cake and chatting with the other lovely cakeup participants. I was hooked.

What I love about the Cake Club is that it is so friendly, positive and there is no judgment of your creation; everybody is just there because they love cake! The bakers I’ve met at cakeups include novices who confess that they don’t bake much and had to borrow the equipment to bake their creation, to professional bakers who make a livelihood from their baking.

The cakes have been old family recipes, amazing multi-layered creations, rustic cupcakes, MKR contestants impossi-balls masterpieces and even cakes shaped like the Cake Club logo! And every one of them has tasted amazing! Cake Club is fantastic for the people it brings together; it’s so lovely when someone tells you they really enjoyed your cake, or you swap a recipe or get to pick the brains of a really talented baker.

The March Cakeup was another chance to eat some truly delicious cake and chat with some lovely people. Set in the beautiful Mint Garden Bar on a gorgeous warm Autumn day, vintage cake stands and vases full of flowers were a heavenly backdrop for the awesome “cocktail” creations.

For the March cocktail theme I had decided on something simple and citrus; Limoncello Cupcakes. I’m not ashamed to say I adore these cupcakes! They are dense, yet fluffy and moist at the same time and the lemon has a lovely tang without being overpowering. There were none left at the end of the Cakeup so I guess that’s a good sign!

I did have a small frosting disaster the morning of the Cakeup (Note, it’s never a good idea to try an experimental frosting recipe the day of the cakeup without a back-up plan!) so the frosting on my cupcakes, while delicious, was quite thin and wasn’t capable of holding its shape for piping.  If you follow the recipe below though (which I didn’t) you will get a lovely thick cream cheese frosting that you can pipe easily.

Limoncello Cupcakes 
(From Bake it with Booze: http://www.bakeitwithbooze.com/)  

Oven temp: 350
Yield: About 18.

For the cupcakes:

•        2 eggs 

•        115grms  softened butter

•        1 cup yogurt (I used full fat Greek style.)

•        1 cup caster sugar

•        1/4 cup lemon juice

•        1/4 cup limoncello

•        1 tbsp vanilla extract

•        zest from 1.5 lemons

•        1 tsp baking powder

•        1/4 tsp salt

•        1.5 cups flour

•        1 tsp baking soda 

•        1/2 tsp cream of tartar

For the frosting:
**Note: this will make enough frosting for around 24 cupcakes, so there will be some leftover ( I may or may not eat this with a spoon....)

•        250grms  cream cheese

•        100grms  butter

•        zest from the remaining  ½  lemon

•        1 Tbsp limoncello

•        1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

•        3 cups icing sugar

Cupcakes

1. Mix the softened butter on med-high until fluffy, then mix in the yogurt and sugar until light and creamy. Mix in the two eggs.

2. Now, add the vanilla, lemon juice, limoncello, and lemon zest. Mix on med speed. (Don’t panic if your beautiful creamy mixture turns into a curdled mess at this stage, its normal)

3. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. It's a good idea to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl every now and then so you don't end up with pockets of baking soda.

4. You'll end up with a very thick, but fluffy, batter. Prepare your muffin tin with cupcake liners, and spoon in the batter. I filled mine pretty full, and ended up with enough mixture for around 18 cupcakes.

Bake at  170 degrees for 18-20 minutes, depending on your oven.

For the frosting:

1. The butter and cream cheese should both be at room temperature. Beat them both together until you have a fluffy and homogeneous mixture, with no visible lumps of butter.

2.  Add the vanilla bean paste, limoncello, and lemon zest. Beat again until fully incorporated. Then, with the mixer on low speed, gradually add the sifted icing sugar. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then mix on med-high for about 30 seconds.

Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, cover generously with your frosting.

Guest Post: Alexandra's Sticky Chocolate Cake

Hello cake lovers, I hope you've had a great start to you week.

Our guest post for the week is from Alexandra Ball - who prepared an absolutely decadent Sticky Chocolate Cake, which as you will read below, was a legacy of her grandmothers'.

For those who hadn't heard, we did a little stint on 666 ABC radio on Sunday morning which you can check out here, but for now - enough about us and over to Alexandra!

This cake is satisfyingly simple yet gloriously celebratory, and its dense deliciousness is all thanks to the secret ingredient, golden syrup.  It has the perfect blank, chocolatey canvas for you to have some fun with flavours; try including orange, hazelnut, fig, ginger or even chilli.  This time round, I opted for earthy cardamom and roasted almonds.  But for the authentic experience, you can’t go past luscious raspberry.

Grandmas' Sticky Chocolate Cake in all her glory

Granda, my grandmother, was a serious entertainer, and this cake of hers continues to make appearances at all significant family celebrations.  Take her advice and allow plenty of time between assembly and serving, for the rich flavoured cream to sink into that dense, dark cake.  I’m sure she’d also want you to know that this cake is best enjoyed post dinner, with a glass of champagne and your old favourite tunes, somewhere around 2am…

Cake Up from Alexandra Ball on Vimeo.

Granda’s Sticky Chocolate Cake

NB. this recipe is for a two-story 20cm cake.  See variations to get the finished product, above.

Cake

• 250g SR flour, sifted
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 125g white sugar
• 1.25 cups hot water
• 2 tab golden syrup
• 90g butter
• 1 tsp bicarb soda

Filling

• 150ml thick cream
• punnet or two of raspberries
• (cardamom and almonds – see variations)

Icing

• 100g sifted icing sugar
• Extra raspberries
• (Granda would insist all you need is a dusting of icing sugar and a pile of raspberries, but I topped it with a chocolate glaze.  See variations)

Cakes

Grease 2 x 2cm round cake tins.  Preheat the oven to medium head.

Combine the sifted flour with sugar in a large bowl.

In a saucepan over low heat, combine water, golden syrup, and butter, stirring until melted.
Add cocoa (be generous) and increase heat until just bubbling.  This releases amazing flavour in the cocoa.  Cool slightly and stir in bicarb soda.

Gently incorporate wet and dry ingredients, mixing by hand until just combined. Do not beat.

Pour into prepared pants and cook 20 mins, turning half way.  Cool completely in tins, then run a sharp knife around the inside edge of your pans and turn out carefully onto racks.

Flavour the cream, whip to soft peaks and refrigerate.  

Use a large sharp knife to gently slice any major bumps due to uneven rising.  A gentle rise is fine.

Place your base layer onto your cake plate and spread with cream, making sure it reaches the edges. Arrange raspberries evenly, prodding them down slightly into the cream.

Add your second story upside down (that is, flat side up), and use the back of a butter knife create a smooth edge of cream between the cake layers.

Ice your cake, allowing drips to fall down the sides of the cake.  

Allow at least 3 hours between assembly and serving. 

Variations

I made the following variations for the February CakeUp.

• Additional layer: an addition half quantity of the cake recipe gave me a third story, which necessitated extra cream and fillings.
• Cardamom cream: ground 8-10 pods of cardamom in a mortar and pestle and add a pinch at a time to the whipped cream, testing for flavour as you go.
• Fillings: roasted almonds and chopped into slivers - a lovely accompaniment to cardamom.  I also used frozen raspberries, thawed in a sieve over a bowl.
• Glaze: I glazed the cake rather than dusting with icing sugar.  (Measurements are approximate) Heat 50g butter with 2 tab cocoa.  Incorporate ¾ cup sifted icing sugar little by little, alternating with hot water (50-100ml in total).  Add 2 squares of very dark chocolate.  Beat in 50ml thick cream and ½ cup plain yoghurt (I used Jalna – sour cream would work well, too).  Check consistency by placing in fridge for 2-3 mins.  The icing should be just starting to set as it cools.  Check the flavour is not too bitter, and add more yoghurt, vanilla and sugar to soften flavours.

In Good Company